USC GAME REPORT

1 With one second left in the first half and USC leading, 17-0, San Diego State quarterback Jack Hawley throws up a Hail Mary pass from the USC 45, and Derrick Lewis leaps to snare it at the goal line for a touchdown. Instead of 17-0, USC’s halftime lead is 17-7, and the Aztecs are in the ballgame.

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2 On fourth and six from the USC 44 with about a minute left in the game and USC leading by three points, Hawley tries to make one more miracle play, but his pass falls incomplete out of bounds. The Trojan fans, who until then had to envision former Trojan coach Ted Tollner upsetting USC at the Coliseum, could rest easy.

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3 Kareem Kelly, the freshman receiver who might not wait for R. Jay Soward to graduate to overtake him, snares a third-and-eight pass for 17 yards to keep a 93-yard drive going in the fourth quarter, then catches the touchdown pass too, a 13-yarder that gives USC a 24-14 lead.

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4 Soward goes one way, Carson Palmer throws the other in the first quarter on a miscommunication that leads to an interception and an embarrassing play for the Trojans. Palmer and Hackett said Soward misread the coverage and ran the wrong route.

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5 Tailback U. can’t score from first and goal from the three-yard line, running four plays up the middle in a stubborn attempt to make their “12 blast” play work with backup tailbacks Sultan McCullough and Jabari Jackson. Hackett second-guesses himself afterward for not faking up the middle and taking the ball around the end.